While Colorado mourns the loss of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, the state of Washington is understandably still in a state of euphoria after its beloved Seattle Seahawks went home with the Vince Lombardi Trophy in tow. Don’t feel too bad, Colorado. There are a lot of ways you can appease that heartbreak, one of which just became legal to recreationally do in your state.
But the folks in Washington aren’t the only ones thrilled about the game’s results. Nevada sportsbooks are all toasting a record-setting Super Bowl as far as the total betting handle for the game is concerned. Once the totals were added up, Super Bowl XLVIII became the most heavily bet-on Super Bowl in history with bettors wagering on a record $119.4 million at Nevada casinos. That figure easily eclipsed the previous $98.9 million that was wagered on last year’s Super Bowl between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers.
But that’s not even the number that has sportsbooks operators high-fiving and pounding each other. The numbers are have yet to be audited, but the Nevada Gaming Control nevertheless announced that books made a profit of $19.7 million, an unprecedented number that’s millions more than what they earned in the last past three Super Bowl-winning years. Combined.
It also broke the previous $15.4 million record for casino wins from the Super Bowl, which was previously set during Super Bowl XXXIX between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles, and a far cry from the record $2.6 million it lost during Super Bowl XLII between the Patriots and the New York Giants.
Despite losing out on a lot of money yet again during the Super Bowl, some bettors still took the sportsbooks on prop bets, most notably from the opening-play safety that put the Seahawks up 2-0 in the game. A lot of casinos had to pay out 8/1 odds on a safety happening during the game and worse, 60/1 odds that a safety would open the scoring in the game. A lot of 5/1 payouts were also doled out on a two-point conversion, which the Broncos successfully converted on their only score of the game. The coin toss was also a loss for the books, a reversal of fortune from previous years, after most of the public put some money down on “tails” instead of the usually-chosen “heads” in prior years.
Still and all, the damage these prop bets did on the books’ hold didn’t end up costing them a lot. Instead, they’re smiling all the way to the proverbial bank after posting a record profit from the game.
They can thank Peyton Manning for that for getting in all that money and thank the Seattle Seahawks for crushing the overwhelming public favorite in resounding fashion.
